


Movie Night

by andrastesgrace (RoxieFlash), gallifreyslostson



Series: Family Assembled [15]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, established relationships - Freeform, just friends hanging out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7941616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoxieFlash/pseuds/andrastesgrace, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gallifreyslostson/pseuds/gallifreyslostson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To distract Steve from yet another blind-leading-the-blind lecture on technology, Tony pulls out a movie Peggy is sure to love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Movie Night

“It’s for music, like a record.”

“But surely a needle would scratch it.”

“That’s just it, the needle is some type of laser!”

“I don’t understand, wouldn’t a laser just cut through it?”

“No, apparently not.  Some sort of...science.”

“Okay, I’m going to have to stop you there,” Tony cut in, and Steve and Peggy looked up from the compact disc they were examining.  “This is actually physically hurting me.  Aun--Peg, take it from me, Scuttle here is _not_ the person to talk to about modern technology.”

“Scuttle?” Peggy asked with a frown, and Tony sighed, shaking his head.

“Tell you what, you want some entertainment from after your time, follow me,” he said, beckoning toward the common area.  “I just got a new copy of this movie, apparently there was a bit more demand following the party in New York.”

“Why do you keep calling it a party?” Nat asked.  “That wasn’t a party.”

“Shindig, then.”

“Shindigs tend to be less violent,” Bruce put in, dropping on to the couch.

“You haven’t been to enough concerts,” Tony said, tilting his head a little.  “There was one time--nevermind.  The time capsules even missed Beatlemania.”

“Was that some sort of...illness?” Peggy asked curiously, and Tony glanced back as he put the DVD in its tray to see her cuddle up to Steve on another couch.

“Not quite.  Anyway, we had schwarma afterwards.  That counts.”

“Your standards for dates are very low,” Clint observed, making an _oof_ sound and cutting a look at Nat when she dropped into his lap.  “How do you even keep Pepper around?”

“Charm and grace,” Tony replied easily.  “That, and I named her head of my company.  It seemed to smooth things over a little.  Jarvis, you coming?”

The former butler looked up as he crossed the room toward the hall, then cleared his throat.  “If it’s all the same, I think I’ll pass.”

“Oh, come on, what could you possibly have to do tonight that’s not watching a movie with us?” Tony whined, gesturing with the remote.

“Very little,” Jarvis said, fixing him with a cold stare that all but screamed, “ _thanks to your father_.”  Tony looked away, coughing a little and pulling up the DVD menu.

“Oh, Mister Jarvis, please join us,” Peggy said, turning to look over the couch at him.  “It might be a good time, get you out of your head for a bit.”

“Yeah, come on, Jeeves,” Natasha added, squirming a bit to get more comfortable between the arm of the easy chair and Clint’s thigh.  “It’ll be fun.  Maybe we’ll even get you to take off your suit jacket.”

“What’s wrong with my jacket?” he asked, frowning as he looked down at himself.

“Please, Mister Jarvis?” Peggy asked again, and Tony exchanged a glance with Steve at the cajoling tone.  Not something you heard often from Peggy Carter, but was complete doom to anyone who had it directed at them.

Sure enough, after a long look, Jarvis sighed.  “If I watch this film with you, will you then let me go in peace?”

“Absolutely,” she promised, and he made an irritable click of his tongue before taking the other easy chair and sitting stiffly.

“Wait, hang on, we can’t watch a moving picture without popcorn,” Steve protested suddenly.

“ _Movie_ , Cap.  Just _movie_.  I can’t--JARVIS, have we got any popcorn?  Other Jarvis,” he added when the human Jarvis arched an eyebrow at him.

“ _Unfortunately, sir, while I can start the microwave and stop it before the popcorn is burnt, my capabilities do not extend to actually putting the popcorn in said microwave.”_

Peggy snorted before managing to cover her smile with her hand, and even the human counterpart seemed to thaw a little at the robotic snark.  Tony rolled his eyes and hit play.

“Fine, I’ll make popcorn.  I’ve seen this a million times anyway.  Be back in a minute.”

He paused at the door, waiting a beat, then grinned when he heard Peggy groan as the music started playing over the opening credits.

“You have _got_ to be joking!”

Dad always said the one thing Mom hadn’t argued about when making _Betty Carver_ was the music.

By the time he got back with the popcorn, Agent Carver--triage nurse and, reasonably, super secret agent--had already punched at least four people, and was sighing impatiently when the great and glorious Captain America arrived on the screen.

“ _You’re late_.”

“ _Couldn’t call my ride._ ”

Tony glanced at Peggy and Steve to see them share a smile before Steve pulled her tighter against him.  Peggy looked up at him when he handed them a bowl of popcorn.

“When was this?”

“1956,” he told her.  “Big revival thing going on, someone thought it’d be fun to turn the old radio show into a movie.  Mom was just getting big, so they figured she’d help sell it.  Which she did...but not the way they were expecting.”

“I can’t imagine fifties husbands and fathers were thrilled with this,” Bruce said, arching an eyebrow at the nurse, rolling her eyes on screen as a Nazi lost consciousness from the sedative in her lipstick.

“The men in the forties wouldn’t have been either,” Peggy said, then sighed.  “I do miss that lipstick, though.”

“I can get you some,” Nat assured her.

“Just don’t get them mixed up with your regular ones, alright?” Steve asked, glancing between them.

“I would never do that to you, darling,” Peggy said, and Tony coughed at Steve’s doubtful look.

“I must say, I’m rather impressed with Miss Martinelli’s portrayal of you, Miss Carter,” Jarvis put in.  “She is really very talented.”

“You have no idea,” Peggy said with a grin.  “Remind me to tell you later about how she saved me from arrest with strategic crying...another thing forties men were astonishingly uncomfortable with.”

Tony had heard _that_ story more times than he could count.  Mom had been ridiculously proud of the fact that she’d managed to save “English” from the meatheads she worked with, and even Dad had usually smiled when she told it.

“Anyway,” he went on, “the arguments Mom had with...everyone, really, from the producers to the screenwriters to the guy who made the coffee--Mom knew coffee--went down in Hollywood history.  They gave in to everything, eventually; if you asked Mom it was because she was determined, if you asked Dad it was because they were afraid she’d end up suing them and making it herself.  And a cult classic was born.”

“Oh, I hope Thompson saw it,” Peggy said with feeling.  “With his wife.  And I hope she _loved_ it.”

They all quieted down then, munching on popcorn and watching Betty Carver and Captain America kick ass and take names, not necessarily in that order.  Tony winced when they got to the part, late in the movie, when Captain America’s plane went down.

_“I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance.”_

_“All right. A week next Saturday at The Stork Club.”_

_“You've got it.”_

_“Eight o'clock on the dot. Don't you dare be late. Understood?”_

_“You know, I still don't know how to dance.”_

_“I'll show you how. Just be there.”_

_“We'll have the band play something slow.”_

Dad had gotten Phillips to get him a transcript of that, for accuracy.  Mom said she cried when she first read it, and that she wished she’d known what had happened before Peggy had disappeared.  It broke her heart that Aunt Peggy was in pain, that that’s why she’d been so prickly when Mom first met her.

Tony glanced at the real life couple again as static was heard on the radio in the movie and Peggy sniffed.  Tears were shining in her eyes as Steve kissed her hair; Dad had always said he’d never seen a pair so in love without even sharing a dance, something incredibly irritating when it was involved in another lecture about whatever girl Tony had happened to be caught with at the time. 

Jarvis was also watching them, his expression unreadable.

He coughed a little, breaking some of the tension.  “Might want to pay attention to the last scene, Jarvis.”

The scene changed to Betty Carver in a diner as a voice over read the condolence letter in her hands.  She looked up as it finished, her expression sad but courageous, as a man in a suit passed by her booth to sit in the one behind her, back to back.

“ _Agent Carver_ ,” the man said in a sotto voice, staring straight ahead.  _“I believe I may have some information you and the rest of the SSR might be interested in.”_

 _“Well then, let’s have it,_ ” Betty said, tucking the letter in her jacket as she sipped at her coffee.  He passed a package between them in a way that was pretty much the exact opposite of stealthy, and Betty pulled a sheet of paper out of it and glanced over it.  “ _Mister Fancy, it would appear that it’s going to be a very long day.”_

“ _MISTER FANCY_?” Jarvis burst out as the end credits began to roll, and Peggy doubled up with laughter.

“If it helps,” Peggy choked, “she did say you had nice shoulders.”

“It doesn’t,” Jarvis said darkly, narrowing his eyes at the screen.  “Although she is correct, if I do say so myself.”  That only made Peggy laugh harder, until she was wiping tears from her eyes.  “Well, I’m glad you found some amusement in it, Miss Carter.”  He cut his eyes to Tony, looking reluctant, then managed, “Your mother was very talented.  You should be proud.”

“I am,” Tony told him.

Jarvis nodded, then stood.  “If that’s all--”

“Oh, Mister Jarvis, please stay a bit longer!”

“Really, Miss Carter, if it’s alright, I’d much rather take my leave,” he said.  A look passed between them of silent communication, and he shook his head a little before turning to the others.  “I bid you all good night.”

“He gonna be alright?” Clint asked when Jarvis made his exit.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Peggy said, sounding a little sad as she watched the door her friend left by, then took a deep breath and turned to them again.  “Now, Tony, you called that a...what was it?  D-V-D?  It looked like one of those music discs, does that use lasers too?”

Tony groaned and picked up his empty popcorn bowl.  “Banner, you’re up.  I took the last one.”

oOoOo

“I wanna ask you something,” Steve said, lounging on Peggy’s bed as she got ready for sleep.

“Just the one thing?” she teased with a smirk.

“Well...it’s...Jarvis,” he said slowly, and she tensed.

“Steve, I told you--”

“No, I know, I get _that_ ,” he interrupted, waving a hand.  Any insecurity he’d had about that aspect of her relationship with Jarvis had fled after the first night.  “I was just wondering, you two don’t seem like you’d get along all that well at first glance.”

“Well, to be fair, I did deck him the first time we met,” Peggy said, and he snorted.  _That_ sounded like the Peggy he knew and loved.  She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged.  “I think...well.  He was there when I needed someone to be there.  He made a point to remind me that I wasn’t alone, that I didn’t _need_ to be...that the people who tended to get hurt around me weren’t a flaw in me.  He took a great many risks for me, and proved to be a loyal friend, even when I didn’t want one.  I intend to repay that favor, at least.”

Steve sighed, taking her hand and pulling her down onto the bed next to him.  “I don’t think he’s going to make that very easy.”

“Well, then, it’s a good thing I don’t surrender easily,” she countered, and he smiled before leaning toward her to kiss her.  As he pulled away, she added, “I expect it rather the same with you and Agent Romanoff.”

Steve tilted his head, considering this.  He and Natasha had hit it off from the start; there was a bit of her that had reminded him of Peggy, the strength and total unwillingness to back down, but she was different.  She was Natasha.  He instinctively trusted her--after Barton had had his...issues because of Loki, he only needed Nat’s nod to assure him that Barton could be relied on.  And for all the fun she could poke at him, she never judged him for his quiet moments; she never gave him anything but respect, and demanded nothing but the same in return.  That’s probably the why, out of the strange little team Fury had assembled, he felt closest to her. 

“Suppose you’re right,” he finally said after a moment.  “We do make strange friends.”

“That we do,” she agreed, then moved to straddle his hips as his hands found hers.  “After all, we did know Dugan.  I saw him, you know, before I came here.  In Russia.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve asked, trying hard to concentrate on keeping his tone light as Peggy ran her hands over his chest. 

“Mhm, when I was investigating Howard’s supposed treason.  You’ll be happy to know he’s still incredibly obnoxious.”

“Dugan or Howard?”

“Yes.”  Steve chuckled, kissing her lightly when her arms looped around his neck, then she pulled away with a sigh.  “I do wish there was something I could do for Mister Jarvis, though.  Whatever Howard might have done, Tony didn’t even exist yet.”

“Yeah...well, if it means anything, Tony is...a _lot_ like his dad,” Steve said, eyes widening as he shook his head.  “Worse, in some ways, with that chip the size of the Bronx on his shoulder.  Howard could drive me up the wall, but Tony and I nearly came to blows.”

“I’m not saying he’s not without his _own_ faults,” she said, shifting a little as a frown appeared between her eyebrows.  “But he should be judged by those, surely, and not those of his father?”

“Well, sure,” he said, shrugging a little.  “But Anna was Jarvis’ _wife_ , and she’s gone.  It’s hard, when you don’t have any closure or anyone to blame, just...loss.  It’s really easy to lose perspective in all that anger and pain.”

He looked down quickly, fighting the sting that came with his own words--that level of anger and pain hadn’t helped matters when he’d first met Tony, either.  All he’d been able to see was an egotistical little punk who couldn’t take anything seriously while Steve was being thrust into a battle for a cube that had cost him everything already.  That wasn’t Tony’s fault either, and Steve was pretty sure already that a lot of Tony’s...everything was a front--also a shared trait with his father--but it still happened.

“Just give it some time,” he said finally, looking back up at Peggy.  “He might still come around.”

“I suppose,” Peggy said, looking at him critically for a moment before shifting again on his lap in a way that seemed much more...purposeful.  “But in the meantime...there’s some...other things we could be talking about right now.”

Steve drew in a sharp breath as she angled her head and kissed his neck.  “Is that right?”

“Mhm.  Or, even, not talking at all,” she added, raising her head with a sultry look that made him swallow hard as his hands tightened convulsively on her hips.

“I like not talking.  Not talking is...very good,” he told her as she lowered her head to kiss him.


End file.
